80s Band Imagines

🧡Tommy #5- Here

Nikki's losing again.

He slams the cue against the edge of the table, cursing under his breath while Tommy tries not to smirk.

"Maybe if you actually practiced instead of preening in the mirror," Tommy says.

"Maybe if you shut the hell up," Nikki shoots back.

I sip my beer, half-tuned out, fully tired. This used to be fun—these nights, these people. But lately, it feels like we're all just holding onto something that's already gone stale.

Except Tommy. He still looks at me like I'm a song he hasn't quite learned the words to. And tonight, for once, I might let him sing.

When the game ends, Mick throws in the towel with a grunt, Vince not far behind. Nikki turns to me.

"Let's go, June."

"You head on. I'll walk," I say, nursing the last of my beer.

He studies me for a moment. There's that flicker of something in his eyes again—suspicion, maybe. Or distance he doesn't know how to close.

"I got her," Tommy chimes in without looking up from chalking his cue.

Nikki raises a brow but doesn't push. "Alright. Be good."

Tommy waits until the door closes before plopping down beside me. The silence that follows is the kind that only settles between two people who've said everything in glances but never out loud.

He doesn't move. Just stays close—close enough that I feel the pause between us stretch out like taffy.

"June," he says suddenly, almost too quiet.

"Hm?"

"Do you ever wonder what it'd be like if..." He trails off.

"If what?"

He exhales, hands still loosely hovering near mine. "If you let me care about you more than just... this."

I turn toward him.

There's something raw in his eyes—barely concealed behind that goofy, rockstar bravado. I see it for what it is now. Vulnerability.

"I do wonder," I say, voice small. "A lot."

Tommy tilts his head, searching my face. "You hide it well."

"I had to," I admit. "Nikki would implode."

"He might," Tommy says softly. "But I wouldn't let him ruin this."

"This?"

"This." He brushes a finger along the side of my arm—slow, reverent. "Whatever it is that we've been circling for months."

I look away for a second. "Do you remember that night at the lake house?"

He nods. "Of course I do."

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The lake house used to feel like sanctuary. Now, it felt too quiet.

June leaned against the railing of the back deck, arms crossed over her chest, watching the still water. The evening sun was setting in streaks of orange and pink, casting long shadows across the dock.

Behind her, the screen door creaked open.

"You're really not gonna talk to me?" Nikki's voice cut through the silence.

June didn't turn around. "I don't want to fight."

"Then stop freezing me out."

She faced him slowly, eyes tired. "You think this is about one bad night? About some argument we had in the city? It's not. It's everything, Nikki. It's all of it."